NHF is pleased to announce that Perseus Patel of Hercules, California, is the 2010 Kevin Child Scholarship Winner. Patel is a sophomore honors student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is pursuing pre-medical studies with plans to attend medical school, specializing in hematology.
Patel was born in India, where he was diagnosed with hemophilia A. He was bedridden for three years as a result of a target joint in his knee; doctors were concerned that he might not be able to walk again. His parents moved the family to the United States to obtain better medical care and treatment for him.
Patel is already making a difference in India and the U.S. In 2009, he partnered with several pharmaceutical companies and NHF to establish a camp in India for children with hemophilia. He helped co-found HemoKidz, a youth program to increase cohesion and identity leaders among children with hemophilia.
At UCLA, Patel has had the opportunity to travel to Mexico to help provide medical care to needy patients. He has conducted research on risk factor for clotting in children with cancer. Currently he is conducting research on Huntington’s disease.
Patel has attended the youth treat sponsored by NHF’s National Youth Leadership Institute. He is active in his local chapter, Hemophilia Foundation of Northern California, and at its summer camp, serving as an assistant counselor this past summer.
The scholarship is named for Kevin Child, who died of AIDS in 1989, shortly before graduating from college. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded annually to a student with hemophilia who is either currently enrolled in or is planning to attend college.
Learn more about the Kevin Child Scholarship.
